


Ink My Skin

by PotterPerson (Nikkilynnc100302)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cute, Falling In Love, Fluff, Love, Love Confessions, M/M, Magical Tattoos, Romantic Fluff, Tattoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:47:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24371545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikkilynnc100302/pseuds/PotterPerson
Summary: When Harry starts noticing Draco's growing tattoo collection, he finds himself infatuated. He soon starts his own collection with Draco's help.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 134





	Ink My Skin

Harry first noticed it during potions class, as Malfoy stirred the potion in their cauldron. He probably wouldn’t have seen it if the colors weren’t so vibrant. On Draco Malfoy’s arm, where there had been a Dark Mark proclaiming his guilt, there now lay a bed of narcissus flowers in rich yellows with white edges. He looked away when Malfoy caught him staring but he never stopped thinking about it. 

He didn’t see it for a while after that but one day he looked over and say the familiar flowers but this time they were accompanied by an emerald green dragon that had nestled itself in the bed of flowers. Later Harry looked over and found the dragon fluttering on the back of Malfoy’s hand.

He wouldn’t have said anything but he just couldn’t get over the new addition to the collection. After a pickup game between a few of the Gryffindors and Slytherins, Harry was just stepping out of the shower when he caught Malfoy changing. Once he tore his eyes from his defined abdomen, he spotted the doe laying on his shoulder. 

“My mother’s patronus was a doe.” Harry surprised himself by saying. 

“So was my Godfather’s.” Harry restrained a flinch at the reminder but was grateful that Malfoy didn’t sound spiteful. 

“I know.” Harry answered. It felt like they didn’t need to say anything else so Harry turned around to finish getting changed. When he turned back around, Malfoy was gone. 

“Hey, Malfoy.” Harry plopped into a seat across from Malfoy in the library, holding back a laugh at the raised eyebrows he received. 

“Hello, Potter. May I ask why you’re here?” Malfoy answered cautiously.

“Sure you can and I’ll answer that I want to be friends.” Harry ignored the curious looks he was getting from those around him. Even Madam Pince hadn’t berated them yet for talking in the library. 

“Alright.” Malfoy said slowly as if speaking to a child. 

They sat in silence for some time, long enough for Draco to finish the essay he had been working on and move to another before Harry started sighing in frustration, the end of his quill between his teeth. 

“Potter, what are you working on?” Malfoy asked, slapping the quill out of Harry’s mouth. 

“Just this stupid charms essay.” Harry answered with a huff. He smirked a little as Draco moved his chair closer, scanning his essay. His plan was working perfectly. Now he just had to find an opening to ask about Malfoy’s tattoos. 

His opening came about three weeks later when Malfoy came into Potions with a new one. A small, fluttering snitch on his right wrist. He waited for the new potions teacher, a young woman that couldn’t be much older than them, to set them to work. When they hit a point where they would have to wait ten minutes for the potion to simmer, Harry took his shot. 

“Do you mind if I ask about your tattoos?” He saw Malfoy’s apprehension and started to apologize. 

“Um, which one?” Harry avoided the obvious one and he already knew about the doe. 

“The dragon. Why did you get it?” He asked. 

“Well my name means dragon in Latin and green is my favorite color. Also, dragons are just really cool.” Malfoy blushed a bit. 

“Did it hurt?” 

“The magic ones didn’t. But this one is muggle and the spot is painful any day.” Draco indicated to the flowers on his arm. 

“Yeah, that’s understandable. Why didn’t you get a magic one instead?” Harry asked. 

“It didn’t seem right, given what it replaced.” A silence lapsed but it wasn’t awkward. Only moments later, the timer they had set went off and they got back to the potion. Harry didn’t say anything else about his tattoos for a while. 

Over the next week, Harry made an effort to spend more time with Draco. Ron and Hermione hadn’t come back for their eighth year and all his other friends were busy with their new relationships so he had the time. But he didn’t realize how close he actually started feeling to him. He told Draco about Sirius and the Dursleys. Draco told him about his childhood and living with Voldemort. 

Then it happened. He realized what he had done and he knew he should want to change things but he really didn’t. Harry had gone and fallen in love with Draco Malfoy.

They were laying by the lake, their arms barely touching, and watching the clouds drift lazily in the sky. 

“It’s going to rain soon. We’re laying under rain clouds.” Draco said though he didn’t sound bothered by the fact. 

“You like rain.” Harry smiled to himself and he knew Draco was smiling too. 

“So? Maybe I was saying it for your wellbeing. It’s only fair to warn you if I know what’s coming.” 

“Fair isn’t exactly a familiar topic for either of us.” Harry answered. He listened to Draco laugh, a light and carefree sound that made his heart beat a little harder. He turned his head to watch the joy play over familiar features. Draco turned to look at him as well and they were grinning at each other. 

“Very funny, Potter. If only you were always so quick-witted.” Draco was still smiling at him and Harry couldn’t breathe a little bit. 

“If I was always like that, you wouldn’t want to be my friend. You would get jealous of how funny I am.” Harry answered. Whatever Draco would have said was lost as the rain started to fall. Draco looked back up to the sky with a grin. 

“Isn’t it wonderful?” He asked with a grin. 

“What?” Harry asked.

“The way it washes everything clean.” Draco said with a sad lilt to his tone. 

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Harry kept watching Draco as his eyes shut and they let the rain soak them to the bone. 

They sat there for a long time until Ginny saw them from Gryffindor tower and forced Neville to help her haul them inside. They both caught colds but it was worth it. 

It was a couple of days later when Harry made a confession. Draco had asked him to meet him in the astronomy tower at midnight. He avoided him for the rest of the day so Harry knew it had to be something big. 

He left Gryffindor at 11:50 that night and made it right on time. When he got there, he felt his breath rush out of him. Draco was precariously balanced on the edge of the tower with a death grip on either edge of the archway. His arms barely reached. Harry didn’t want to startle him so he waited a few feet behind him with bated breath. 

Finally, Draco stepped back into the safety of the tower and turned to face him. 

“What were you doing?” Harry asked, finally catching his breath. 

“Sometimes I just like to stand up there. It’s like a reminder that I’m alive but I’m not invincible. Someone could just push me or startle me or I could slip. Anything could happen, really, and I would be dead.” Draco sounded like he was talking about taking medicine for a headache like it was no big deal. 

“There have to be other ways to feel that way. Less dangerous ways.” Harry took a step forward, wanting so badly to grab him and make sure he was still right there. 

“None that I can think of. Unless you’re a fan of Russian Roulette.” 

“Absolutely not. Can you just warn me next time or let me stand up here with you?” Harry asked, some kind of desperation keeping him from thinking about how he must sound. 

“Okay.” Draco assured, reaching out to touch Harry’s shoulder before thinking better of it and dropping his arm. Harry responded by reaching out and grabbing the slightly smaller man and wrapping him in a hug. Draco tensed at first but slowly relaxed and let his head rest against Harry’s shoulder. 

They pulled away after a moment, though they didn’t move far from one another. 

“Why did you ask me to come up here tonight?” Harry asked, breaking the silence. 

“I have a proposition. My tattoo artist in London says that he has a piece I might like and I’m going to go take a look tomorrow. I was wondering if you wanted to come and maybe get one yourself since you seem to like mine so much.” 

“Really? That sounds awesome!” Harry grinned. 

“Why do you like them so much, anyway?” Draco asked. 

“I don’t honestly know. I think at first I was just really curious. Then I saw the dragon. I thought it was pretty and I like the idea of being able to carry meaningful art with you wherever you go. To be honest, I talked to you at first because I wanted to know more about them.” Harry smirked at Draco’s slightly offended face. 

“Wow, you used me to get close to my tattoos.” He faked shock. 

“Sorry.” Harry shrugged. He was obviously not sorry.

“No you’re not.” Draco called him out. 

The next day, Harry woke up full of nerves. He was crazily excited to get his first tattoo and, after a conversation with Ginny, he knew what he wanted to get. 

He met Draco by the doors a few hours later, around noon. 

“Finally! Are you ready?” Draco asked. Harry nodded with a grin and Draco shook his head exasperatedly. Harry babbled all the way to Hogsmeade about his excitement. Draco tried to figure out what he would get but Harry refused to tell him. Once Draco had apparated them to London, and Harry pushed away his nausea, Draco led them into the tattoo parlor. 

While Draco spoke with his friend, Harry looked around. He looked at some of the options on the wall but decided he wanted to stick with his idea. They were pulled to different chairs and Harry was introduced to Elizabeth, another friend Draco had made, who would be doing his tattoo. 

“So, what are you thinking?” She asked as she pulled her red hair into a sloppy ponytail. 

“I was thinking of a scorpion. Kind of small and on my left shoulder.” They worked through the details and finished the whole thing in a few hours. Magical tattoos were much quicker than muggle tattoos. 

When Harry walked out he found Draco waiting for him. 

“How did it go?” He asked, finding Draco wincing as he leaned back against his chair. 

“Great except that I’m going to have to sleep on my stomach for a few days. How about you? First one!” Draco said with a grin. 

“It went great but you can’t see it yet. It would take a bit of explaining and I want to wait until it’s healed.” Harry stopped Draco before he could ask about it. 

“Fine, then you’ll have to wait for mine.”

When they were both healed, they met in the astronomy tower at midnight. Harry was relieved that Draco was not on the edge of the tower. 

“You first.” Harry insisted when they were sitting across from each other. Draco sighed but agreed. He turned around and pulled off his shirt, revealing a potions bottle filled with a purple liquid spilled on its side, the liquid leading off into a trail of Pansies. It was spread down his right side. Harry lifted his fingers to trace the path of the liquid and felt Draco shiver. 

“What’s it mean?” Harry asked.

“Believe it or not, Pansy and I became friends because of potions. She was having trouble learning the basics from her tutor before first year so she sat in on my lesson with Severus. Afterward, she joined all our lessons and we played after them. She became my best friend then. Now, it’s your turn.”

“Okay, fine.” Draco turned back around but left his shirt off. Harry pulled the edge of his shirt down, revealing a small, silver scorpion. “It’s a bit of a long story.” 

“I think we have the time.” Draco smirked. 

“Well, I met this guy a long time ago. We never really like each other much. Then he started to catch my interest so we started talking and I sort of fell in love. I was talking to another friend and, although this guy doesn’t have a patronus, we decided a scorpion was a good fit. The color is for his eyes.” Harry explained, watching Draco’s face carefully to see if he understood. 

“Why a scorpion?” Draco asked. Harry couldn’t tell what he was thinking. 

“Well, the mothers stay with them for a long time and even let them ride on their backs. They all look a lot like their ancestors. They’re resilient. They participate in courting rituals, like purebloods. Finally, they can choose how much venom they use and most of them aren’t killers. They prefer to make a getaway than to kill.” Harry answered. He watched as Draco’s mask cracked little by little. By the last part, he was near tears. 

“I love you too.” Draco said, pushing himself forward to throw his arms around Harry’s neck. Harry returned the embrace, his arms tight around Draco’s waist. 

They continued collecting tattoos, some of them meaningful and some of them just fun. But Harry’s favorite was always that silver scorpion.

**Author's Note:**

> What do you guys think of Draco's patronus being a scorpion? I found this really awesome post about why Draco's patronus would be a scorpion and I can't think of anything better now. Also, let me know if you see anything I should fix? I haven't slept and I'm too tired to proofread.


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